12 Rooms in 12 Months: Master Bedroom Makeover Progress (at the New Place)

Paint Changes

After we got the keys to the house, the first thing I did was have the house painted, which made a huge difference. The walls were a creamy, lighter version of builder’s beige essentially and it was not something I felt I could live with. So, to the paint store I went! And I picked out the brightest white I could find for this room (literally, it is the brightest white that Sherwin-Williams makes, called high reflective white…not too blue, not too yellow).

The color isn’t a drastic change BUT I think we can all agree that perfectly white walls are leaps and bounds better than beige. And in real life, you can really tell what an improvement this change has been. PLEASE everyone; stop painting your house beige. Or at least the one’s that Jeff and I are renting.

New Door Handles

For me, every detail matters…right down to the door hardware. And because they’re so easy to change out for a more custom look, I didn’t waste any time once we moved in, picking out some brand new custom options from Schlage’s new Custom™  Collection.

I looked through several styles that specifically had 2n1 functionality (which means it works for both Bed-Bath and Hall-Closet doors), so I can add more matching hardware as time goes on. And when I stumbled onto the Custom Eller Lever with Collins Trim in Matte Black, I was immediately drawn to color and shape. Our master is the very first door when you walk upstairs, so a Custom lever felt like a great ‘greeting’ to our bedroom.

As strange as this might sound, the Custom lever I picked turned into one of my inspirations for the room. I fell in love with the matte black accent and wanted to continue adding matte black to the space wherever I could to help ground things and tie everything together, in a more subtle way.

Side note: Just in case changing out door hardware sounds good to you in theory, but you’re hesitant because it also sounds  complicated, let me tell you… The hardware I chose is guaranteed to fit on standard pre-drilled doors. Yay! AND the entire installation (including removing the old door levers) took me 12 minutes. 12 minutes! Yes, I timed it because I really wanted to see how easy or hard it would be. I had NEVER changed a door lever before or installed a new one. So, 12 minutes sounds pretty dang good to me! I nearly felt like I could build an entire house after that little victory. All that, paired with the affordability of the line, definitely puts it into the ‘totally worth it’ category for me.

Furniture

We mostly already had the bedroom furniture before moving in. Buying things over the years with the intention of having the ‘big’ pieces forever has its pros. And while we’re still waiting to find the perfect side tables (currently still rocking the metal Ikea ones), the bed frame, vintage dresser, and giant standing mirror are some of my faves in the house. They’ve been with us for a while and we still love ’em…luckily they fit like a glove in our new place. In fact, we almost have too much room now, so we’ll have to address that as we get settled into the house more and more.

One thing that I added last minute, that I really, really like is the black Menu bench that houses a few books, artwork and a plant. It helps to break up an otherwise empty wall and the fact that the bench is entirely black again helps tie in those accents that I wanted to include.

An Art, Lighting, and Accessories Update

The swing arm scones hanging over each nightstand were a little bit of a back and forth scenario. I bought them specifically for the bedroom, but forgot to measure the area ahead of time. And they ended up being much bigger than I thought they would be. At first Jeff thought I was crazy for buying them and demanded to see a picture of them looking ‘good’ in a space to figure out what in the world I was thinking. 🙂 Which made we question them as well.

But then, we just decided to give them a try to see how it would look in a finished space. It didn’t hurt that we literally had no other lighting options (and the ones I bought were sadly non-returnable). Once we got everything else in the space, artwork on the walls, etc., they actually started looking pretty cool. And now we both love them. Ha, go figure.

Additionally, we added some old and new accessories, books, artwork, etc., to make things feel more lived in and warmed up. And bought a new plant to add a little height in the corner. A couple of my hats and one of Jeff’s are on the opposite wall to balance things out and lessen the pressure of putting artwork on every single wall.

Then there’s the dresser area, which is probably the least put-together spot in our bedroom at the moment. I do have a few good place holders in there though, so it doesn’t feel too bare. Right now, I’m searching for the perfect piece of (large-scale) artwork to hang on the wall, with a few minimal accessories on the dresser itself. Mostly wanting to keep it sparse because we use the dresser for stacking clothes that we wear a lot so we don’t have to go all the way to the closet to get certain things. Lazy as charged over here.

Window Coverings

The natural light that our bedroom gets in the morning is amazing and one of my fave things in this space. But the larger window needed some kind of covering for privacy and days when we just don’t feel like getting out of bed when the sun comes up.

For now, we’ve gone with some temporary paper blinds (that I actually like the look of, but they’re kind of a pain to pull up and take down every day). We have plans for something more substantial once we’re settled in and have a few other things checked off the list. If you have any ideas on modern window coverings though, let me know. I was also thinking about getting some soft, sheer curtains to flank the sides of the window, but haven’t decided on anything there yet. Hmm.

Source list: Custom Eller Lever with Collins Trim Hall-Closet and Bed-Bath Lock // Nelson bed frame and headboard from DWR // Percale Venice sheet set in white from Parachute // Percale shams (in sand) from Parachute // stone washed linen pillows from Annie Selke // Grid print pillows (bought on a trip to Paris at French Trotters) // Branch artwork over bed // Chelsea swing arm scones from Urban Outfitters // Grey Ikea nightstands // Sculpture on left nightstand (vintage) // One thing at a time print from Young Blood  // DIY artwork on right nightstand // Dash and Albert rug (out of stock) // Menu meet bench in black // All other artwork in this room is from local artist // Blu Dot standing mirror from Wayfair // Paper blinds from Home Depot // Dresser (vintage) // Doug Johnston woven bowl // Fort Standard standing bowl in mint

And that’s the progress of our master bedroom so far. There’s still plenty to do, but it’s a vast improvement from when we moved in, especially in such a short time. I’ll be sure to update with more photos as we continue adding to the space. But in the meantime, let me know what you think! I’d love your feedback on what we’ve done so far.

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This post is in partnership with Schlage. Thank you for supporting the brands that help keep Paper & Stitch running.

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